This is the first of a few posts of me writing about the races withing PA and how they came to be who they are today..

I have started with Terran and will be working on the others of the next few weeks.

Terran Lore

In the year 2367 what has become known as The Rapture happened. The end of times as mankind knew it. Mass food and power shortages for many years across the globe had caused much planetary and national strife. Many wars had ensued, with the dominant nations crushing all opposition for the resources that their lands yielded. By the early 2300's only 4 nations were left. The New States of Terran, The Pacific Alliance, The Eastern Peninsula and a shady organisation known only as Lunar Wind. 40% of the planet was uninhabitable by man, through radiation from many nuclear wars and through plague and pestilence caused by mass killing of civilians in the quest for resources.

The New States of Terran (NST) were by far the most technologically advanced of these 4 nations, and had long ago realised that the planet was a lost cause. In 2312 they had started what would become known as the Terran Initiative. The goals of this were to map the star system and find a cluster of inhabitable planets. Space technology had gotten to a point where mankind could now forage out into the universe and the NST wanted to take advantage of this, to create new worlds. Then it happened. On May 22nd 2367, the unthinkable took place, 14 high yield nuclear devices detonated at strategic points across the Pacific Alliances strongholds. Unbeknown to the other nations the Pacific Alliance had stolen plans for the NST's space flight capable engines, powered by a newly found material called Eonium, which scientists believed had come from a rogue asteroid that devastated New Europe in 2208. Unfortunately the Pacific Alliance did not have the technological advancements to contain this material properly and these attacks had a devastating effect. The skies turned blood red and fumes poured up from cracks in the crust. It felt as though the planet was breathing its last breaths before dying. The Lunar Wind made a planet wide declaration that it was responsible for this heinous act. It declared “The time has come for man to walk no more”

The NST had to act quickly to preserve itself and within 4 days, 11 manned ships were ready to launch. The first group would be known as the Harpies and the second as the Phoenixes. Each ship had the details of a planet locked into it's computer and launch was a go. At 14:00 on May 26th 2367 eleven white arrows of smoke were seen shooting up against the red dawn, this was mankind’s last hope.

The next 10 years of space travel were fraught with many dangers, from rogue asteroids to black holes, the Terran fleets diced with danger many times. Some ships were damaged badly and some were never heard of again, disappearing suddenly from their compatriots sensors and leaving the haunting sound of radio static in their ears. Some thought they heard the crews screams before this happened, but nobody ever knew for sure what fate met them. Over time seven remaining ships finally reached the end of their missions as they touched down on new worlds.

Bases were formed and scouting missions organised as the newcomers set out to establish themselves in these new lands. The bases quickly grew and with the research to process the new materials discovered, the Terran technology quickly advanced. A new class of ship, the Frigate was created and this provided protection in the skies for the people of these new worlds. Years passed and the bases turned into cities and the cities into metropolises. Not all the colonies were as progressive as the rest. Phoenix Team 7, which landed on the planet Osawia, never stood a chance as an alien plague ravaged their colony before they could find a cure for the disease. The harsh winter that ensued was too much for the few that were left and they departed in ships to join the new Terran Planet Capitol of Galbradia, Harpy Team 1's prosperous and awe inspiring stronghold.

After 100 years or so of peace and prosperity out of nowhere a powerful threat appeared from above. A race known as the Xandathrii, which was insectoid in form and nature, swarmed the one of the Terran planets with unimaginable fleet numbers. In the first bloody encounter the population was lucky to survive, owing much to the defensive shielding they had been tasked with researching. Now this threat had been recognised and assessed the rest of the Terran outposts adopted this technology quickly, finding that although the Xandathrii came in large numbers they relied more on that than the ability of their ships. Wave after wave of Xandathrii fleets smashed into the Terrans defence network, slowly edging there way closer to the planets surface. But the Terrans had time to rally the troops and fleets of Frigate class ships were sent to repel the invasion. The battle was short and the Xandathrii soon turned tail and fled, their hive mentality not coping with the extraordinary losses.

After this encounter the Terran Council decided that a strong defensive network was their best chance of survival against the unknowns out there beyond them. They battened down the hatches so to say, and decided to consolidate what they had rather than risk losing it all. This new way of thinking was not overly popular with sections of the population and slowly resentment for these decisions started to fester. Some people believed that Terrans should be true to their heritage as explorers and set out amongst the stars again to discover new technologies and trade. There began a small uprising from a group that were known only as 'Eitraides'. It was a term that was used to describe someone who wanted more, who wasn’t satisfied with just being safe. Slowly this uprising gathered steam and started attacking Terran military installations, as a rebellion against the order of things, trying to cripple the defensive network known as ARM. When politics failed to quell this uprising, the military decided to fight back and an ensuing civil war took place, people clashing with soldiers in the streets and there was much loss of life on both sides. Gradually the military gained the upper hand and 6 years after it had started the rebellion ended. All the Eitraides sympathisers were rounded up and tried by jury. In this new start there was no death penalty so the ruling powers settled for the next best thing and exiled the Eitraides to the small planet of Hebradon in 2578.

After rebuilding and enhancing their defensive grid the Terran colonies enjoyed a new found vigour and sense of togetherness and slowly they progressed forward, finding ways to enhance construction and gain higher yields from recycling. Then in 2635 a new race made themselves known to the Terrans. A Cathaar delegation landed on Galbradia, with messages of peace and well wishes. This extremely advanced race, which looked almost feline in appearance, were gradually welcomed by the Terran High Council and trade networks between both races were established. Terran planets were rich in Crystal resources which the Cathaar craved to make their EMP technology work and in return the Cathaar people taught the Terrans how to make a more offensive version of their Frigate ships. These came to be called Destroyers. Many years of peaceful relations conspired between the Cathaar and the Terran but slowly as the visitors found out more about the Terran past they tried to exert more influence over its people and government. Their belief in non harmful weapons and their ancient teachings rubbed raw against the gory past of the Terran people. The Terran Council was wary still after its encounter with the Xandathrii and resisted this forceful approach from the Cathaar. Relations started to break down and over time giant Cathaar Cruiser Fleets appeared in the skies above Galbradia. The Cathaar fleets could not penetrate Galbradia's sophisticated ARM defence grid but it made sure that for the next 8 months no ships were able to bring resources and supplies to the Capitol. This Seige of Galbradia became a famous tale in Terran writings of how Terrans defensive capabilities withstood the might of the Cathaar Concordium.

Over time the Terrans secretly worked on a way to penetrate the Cathaar lines, using the very ships they had taught them to build. Huge shipyards built masses of Destroyer class fleets with such imposing ships as the Pegasus ready to deal a hefty blow to the Cathaar oppressors. In the first month of 2636 Phoenix Team 8, or Titan as it was now known, launched the first offensive Terran fleet into combat in 120 years, their mission, to hit the Cathaar people where it hurt, the expansive Crystal mines of Theodira. So unexpected was this sign of offensive prominence that the Cathaars fleets stationed there did not know what had hit them. The Pegasus lead destroyer fleets ripped through Cathaar lines without any remorse, killing hundreds of thousands of Cathaar crewmen and women. The Terran fleets then proceeded to land and strip the planet of as much of its Crystal resources as it could holds could take.

This blow to the Cathaar people set them reeling, and the lack of Crystal reserves meant their powerful EMP tech started to lose its potency. These once great people were on the brink when a helping hand appeared from almost nowhere. Watching from afar, and waiting for the right moment, the Eitraides had a score to settle. Using the bargaining power of a desperate people they offered help to the Cathaar people, in exchange for use of their technology. Resigned to knowing they could not win without them the Cathaar people agreed. Armed with detailed plans of critical infrastructure and the help of the Etdrides, the Cathaar set out to turn the tide in this bloody war. Some of the ways of the past had to be shed and the Cathaar turned to basic artillery to bolster their fleets. First to go was the Terran outpost of Lucitia, only a small and developing planet but rich in Metal resources the might of the new allies made light work of the defensive resistance of the Terrans, knowing exactly where to pinpoint their assaults for maximum effect. The use of Structure Killing Ships by the Etdrides proved decisive and Lucitia was lost to their thrall.

Bloody battles on Terran planets were waged in the coming years with many losses to both sides, with strongholds swapping hands on almost a weekly basis. Terran ARM continued to hold strong on the main planets and slowly the alliance stopped making headway. After almost 10 years of pitched battles and interstellar wars both sides entered peace talks, none could any longer accept the losses to their people and need a way out. After much delegation the war was ended although whether the wounds would heal would yet to be seen.

Things slowly started to return to normal over time and with its new found offensive capabilities the Terran slowly started to branch out taking over uninhabited worlds, in search of Metal resources it required to power the guns on its ships. In 2704 researchers developed a new class of ship to command the Terran Armada. These 'Battleships' were by far the most powerful things anyone had laid eyes on, their sheer size would scare people, let alone the power the were able to unleash. Things were going well for the Terran people, gradually relations with the Cathaar resumed and tentatively trade began again.

Whispers were coming from both Cathaar and Terran outposts of a new force appearing from nowhere and slowly making it way across the universe towards them. Terran people had been told nightmare stories about a race that could use your own ships against you in battle. Cathaar people did not like to go into much detail but one word used was a word to be feared, Zikonian.

On one fateful afternoon the skies above Eutia darkened, so dark that the nearby sun could not penetrate it. Out of these dark clouds descended mighty ships armed to the teeth with amazing weaponry that could only be imagined, this would the Terrans first encounter with the Zikonians, and they feared the worst.

Thankfully though these scare stories were found to not be entirely true and the Zikonian people although an ancient and powerful race were not the warmongers they were made out to be. They spoken passionately about uniting all the races into one harmonious collective that would prosper and live in peace. Terran people couldn’t help noticing that these Zikonians bore a striking resemblance to the Cathaar people, if not a less elegant look though.

In 2770 the Zikonian people hosted the first of many Universal High Council meetings where the five races, Xandathrii, Cathaar, Zikonian, Terran and Eitraides set about agreeing trade commerce agreements which would benefit all. The Eitraides were very interested in Xandathrii's new cloaking technology and would bring it up as make weight in any deal.

Everyone seemed to be working well together and all the races were living harmoniously, each setting up outposts and trading planets in each other galaxies to make the flow of resources easier to transport around. Some thought everything was going too well and it turned out it was. Everything changed again for Terran people on that fateful day in 2815.......